I’m a software engineer supporting multiple space missions at the European Space Agency’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESA’s ESAC) in Spain.
What’s your role?
I split my time between two teams at the European Space Agency’s European Space Astronomy Centre (ESA’s ESAC).
In the Heliophysics development team, I build and maintain the science archives for missions like Solar Orbiter, SMILE and PROBA-3, from data ingestion pipelines to the interfaces scientists use to explore the data.
In ESA’s DataLabs, I work on DevOps, configuration management and validation for a cloud platform where scientists analyse mission data.
How long have you worked at ESAC?
I’ve been at ESAC for 3 years in my current role.
What did you study?
I studied Telecommunications Engineering and I had no background in the space sector. It was Starion who reached out to me.
What I appreciated most was that Starion’s recruiters looked beyond that: they saw that my technical skills were a solid foundation and, above all, they valued my motivation and eagerness to learn. I still remember that interview. I made it clear I was ready for the challenge and wanted to bring everything I had to deliver the best possible service to ESA. It didn’t matter that I didn’t have a space engineering background.
You don’t need to be a scientist or a space expert to work here. ESAC makes it very easy to get into it: there are talks, webinars, conferences and scientists sharing their work all the time. Before you know it, you’re learning about astronomy and physics and getting genuinely curious about the missions you support.
Tell us about a highlight while working for Starion at ESAC
My highlight would be seeing the first data from the PROBA-3 instruments flow automatically into the Archive. Getting there meant coordinating with instrument teams in Belgium and Switzerland, with network teams and with developers, so when the connection finally worked and the files started arriving, it felt like a real team achievement.
It’s very rewarding to know that scientists around the world will use data that passed through something you built.
Why is working at ESAC appealing?
You work on real space missions alongside ESA engineers and scientists, and you get to use a wide range of technologies, from back-end pipelines and databases to Kubernetes and front-end tools. No two weeks are the same, so you keep learning.
With Starion, you have colleagues across different ESAC teams, which makes it easy to share knowledge and move between projects. And the campus itself, surrounded by nature just outside Madrid, is a pretty special place to go to work.